Imagine a long-existing illness which affects 9,000 Pennsylvania children annually, causing serious symptoms such as developmental delay, learning difficulties, irritability, loss of appetite, weight loss and even seizures. What if it was found that, with robust, concentrated efforts, it was entirely preventable? Would it not be reasonable to expect reactions from the community ranging from shock to anger that more isn’t being done to protect our children?

Tragically, this is the reality for a number of people suffering from the effects of lead poisoning in America. Bruce Clash, state director of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids (a subsidiary of national bipartisan nonprofit Council for a Strong America) led a June 2 webinar with elected officials, district attorneys and community leaders discussing the impacts of lead poisoning locally, as well as mitigation and prevention strategies going forward.

Joining Clash were Lehigh and Northampton County district attorneys James Martin and Terence Houck, Bethlehem police chief Michelle Kott, state Representatives Mike Schlossberg of Allentown and Steve Samuelson of Bethlehem, Pa. Senator Mario Scavello and Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure, among others.

Clash opened the session with some background information on the topic. “Perhaps many people think this was an issue only in the 1970s and 80s,” he said, as lead-based paints were banned by the federal government in 1978 due to their harmful effects. While structures built after the ban are hopefully lead-based paint-free, the impacts of decades of its heavy use in residential dwellings continue.

Martin, Houck and Kott all approached the issue from a crime-prevention perspective, noting the scientific studies showing correlation between lead exposure in children and negative outcomes later in life. “Helping put young children and their families on positive trajectories” is essential to preventing crime, Martin said, highlighting the importance of the “safety of our families’ living environments.”

Lead poisoning is an “insidious threat,” Martin said, as although lead-based paints have been illegal for over four decades, many homes built before the ban are likely to contain multiple layers of lead-based paint. Children can even be poisoned by dust from the lead when the paint breaks down, he said.

Center City Allentown especially consists of many residences built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Martin added, noting how Black and Hispanic/Latinx children in the city are two times likelier to be victims of lead poisoning than white children. “The research and the science all indicate that lead-based poisoning can contribute to criminality both in juveniles and adults,” he said.

Houck added his thoughts on the link between childhood lead poisoning and crime, saying studies “found that populations that had lead in their drinking water had higher homicide rates” than those drinking lead-free water. Additionally, “children committed nearly five times the number of delinquent acts” than those without exposure. He called the statistics “unacceptable and preventable… it’s mind-boggling that this still exists.”

According to the CDC, Pa. is second in the nation in positive blood tests for lead poisoning among children. Within the state’s 67 counties, Houck said, Northampton County is home to the 16th highest number of children affected, while Lehigh is seventh highest. These numbers are almost certainly low because only 16 percent of children have been tested in Northampton (18 percent in Lehigh). The data shows an “ongoing gap between knowledge and practice,” he added. “We have to approach this with more urgency.”

Kott highlighted not only lead exposure’s effects on childhood behavior, but learning as well. “Direct evidence (exists) tying lead poisoning to criminality later in life, but we can’t forget the effects of lead exposure in school performance,” she said, pointing to a study of Chicago public schools in which higher levels of lead in third graders’ blood were associated with lower achievement in academic subjects such as reading and math.

Affected students’ risk of failing classes increased by as much as 32 percent, coming alongside a higher risk of dropping out of high school. “Almost 40 percent of incoming Pa. state prison inmates have less than a 12th grade education,” Kott said, pointing to the “billions of dollars spent on the back end to house these inmates.”

A recent study conducted by Atrium Environmental Health and Services showed that 15,000 Pa. children currently have elevated levels of lead, Kott said. The estimated combined lifetime cost for these children is $3.1 billion - due to increased spending on health care and education, decreased lifetime productivity and premature mortality.

“It’s extremely unsettling to me. We’re going to deal with preventable crime in the future because we as a society have been unable to eliminate this,” Kott said. “It’s so much bigger than one government entity to solve this complex social issue.”

Frank Brooks, administrator with Northampton County Community & Economic Development, provided some information about what is being done and can be done in the future to mitigate the problem. According to the 2019 U.S. Census, he said, Northampton County is home to 72,000 houses built before 1979 – 31,000 of which were built before 1939. He estimates around half of housing in the county may contain lead in some form.

He pointed to the partnership formed between McClure, Bethlehem mayor Robert Donchez and the Bethlehem Health Bureau – the ‘Ban Lead Coalition’ – which has been awarded grants to jumpstart removal programs. The county now has over 85 workers trained in lead safe removal practices. “Now is the time to consider having your family tested for lead exposure, especially if you have very young children and live in an older building,” Brooks said.

Heidi Westerman, community housing manager at Allentown Lead Hazard Control, provided similar details regarding the third largest city in Pa. According to her, 62 percent of residential dwellings throughout Allentown were built prior to 1960, while 75 percent of Center City units were built prior to 1939. Lehigh County has 26,000 children under the age of six, with 30 percent of tested children showing an elevated level of lead in their blood. “We only know about this 30 percent... not all of our children have been tested,” she said. “I can’t imagine the actual number if testing were more mandatory.”

Following the pandemic, during which children spent considerably more time at home, Westerman said she expects to see a “significant uptick” in that number. She said the city plans to remediate 310 units over the next five years, but “funding is crucial. We will not claim victory until every child in Allentown has the opportunity to grow up lead-free.”

McClure also briefly addressed the panel. “Fight Crime and the DAs need to be commended here,” McClure said. “I cannot tell you how critical it is to have law enforcement in our corner when making the arguments for further funding.” He stressed how helpful such “science-based conclusions” are, calling these studies “powerful evidence for us to get more money. We are already (conducting remediation efforts) and it is our goal to get even more aggressive.”

More details, including Fight Crime’s May 2021 lead exposure report, as well as printable, county-specifc fact sheets, can be found at the organization’s website, www.strongnation.org/fightcrime.